I don't know if Jude Law is really a cad, but I can't help but think of him as one. Maybe that reputation developed since this movie came out in 2006, but in 2024 he's too sus to be trusted as a earnest, drunken widower.
Hans Zimmer's score is aggressively staid and persistent. I never complain about a score, but this one was plastered over seemingly every scene, and felt cloyingly old-fashioned.
Nancy Meyers was only 56 when she made this movie, but you'd think a 70 year old nun directed the movie for how chaste it is. Any potential sexual energy to Law and Diaz' relationship is completely tamped down. I liked the reversal when Diaz asks Law to kiss her again, and then suggests they have sex, but she barely starts walking towards the bedroom when the scene ends. I was hoping she'd throw her bra at him as she walked away, or drop her pants, or something? What year is this?
I have been a fan of Rufus Sewell since the 1990s, and as I said above, Law is too charming to be the widower acting in good faith. I would have much preferred Sewell as the widower and Law as the cad. Think about it: Sewell is also handsome, but five years older and less of a dreamboat, so he would seems less like an automatic romantic prospect for Diaz. That would make their matchup less expected.
You can't cast Kate Winslet as the sad dishrag whom the cad strings along, and have Eli Wallach comment on how she's supposed to be the leading lady, in the same movie. I don't mind Kate Winslet being lovesick, but she's presented as if she's a Plain Jane, which is confusing, because she's so gorgeous. She's a Gen Xer named "Iris" for crying out loud. Is this a normal Gen X name in England, or an ugly girl's name? Compounding this problem is Jack Black. He's not presented as a potential romantic partner for Winslet right away, so we are left to think maybe he's destined to be just per pal. Then at the end, he suddenly suggests they date, and she gleefully jumps into his arms?! Were we supposed to feel mutual unspoken romantic attraction all this time, because it wasn't there. Never mind that Black's character needed to be 20% better-looking to not be insulting to Kate Winslet. They've made Black as handsome and well-groomed as they could, and he knows how to be charming, but let's be serious. Before this movie, her three previous leading men were Patrick Wilson, Johnny Depp, and Jim Carrey. Maybe if he was a foot taller I wouldn't have been shocked.
This is just what I needed for my flight, and I love watching glossy, expensive rom-coms, but this one needed some retooling. If only they'd call me and my wife ahead of time. C-minus.
I love watching what other people are watching on airplanes. At one point me and my seatmates were watching:
- 25A When Harry Met Sally...
- 25B (me) The Holiday
- 25C The Office (the one where Jim lets slip that Pam's pregnant)
Netflix, United Airlines from Las Vegas to Newark